From Baghdad to Boise: Iraqi Software Technician Returns to IT Career at Boise State University

HomeFrom Baghdad to Boise: Iraqi Software Technician Returns to IT Career at Boise State University

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Name: Mudhafar PoulesProfession/Industry: IT specialist
Current U.S. Position and Company Name: Software Technician, Boise State UniversityEducation: Bachelor of Computer and Software Engineering, University of Technology, Baghdad
First Job in U.S.: Computer programmerStory Author: GTI Volunteer Erik Olson

Although his father and various family members have been in Idaho since 2006, Mudhafar Poules only came to the United States in October 2014. With the deteriorating security situation in Baghdad making Mudhafar’s connections to both Iraqi government offices and foreign private companies through his job a safety risk, World Relief was finally able to secure his resettlement to Boise.

Having built up a career as an IT specialist over years of working in Baghdad, Mudhafar describes his first job in Boise as a programmer, chuckling as he admits that programming was, unfortunately, not his area of specialty. “I did not work there very long,” he remembers, “maybe only a couple of days.” However, determined to continue his career in Boise, Mudhafar found Global Talent Idaho and describes the process of job searching, resume writing, mock interview events. Putting emphasis on the help provided by the interview practice and feedback, Mudhafar says, “I must have gone to at least four or five mock interviews,” which he claims helped immensely to prepare him for the interview which led to his current position as an IT specialist at Boise State University.

Although Mudhafar is happy to be back working within his area of specialty, he hopes that updating his certificates for new versions of Microsoft servers will allow him to branch out into the entirety of the IT department at BSU, or maybe even to open his own business, as he once had done in Iraq.

Every year, hundreds of new Americans leave everything behind, arriving in Idaho with advanced degrees, English language skills and successful but interrupted careers – as engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers, accountants, and scientists.Read More